Posts Tagged ‘hair tones’

And the award for most desired tone on the planet goes to… you guessed it. Gold hues are at the very top of everyones wish list when visiting their colorist or buying a box. Gold tones are just plain flattering to almost anyone with any skin tone. Gold tones don’t give off any red or orange tones. They’re perfectly warm but never brassy. Look at the photos above– you don’t see “yellow”, you see sun kissed golden tones. It should look as though you’ve been on a long vacation or perhaps as though you surf a lot. Good gold tones look like what I like to call “kid color”. Children often have these golden, natural highlights that are uneffected by years of hair coloring. Here are some things you should know if you’re wanting to be a golden girl…

Be clear on what you’re after. Everyone has a different idea of what gold means so if you’re going to the salon, take a bunch of photos for reference. Use words like “not brassy” “natural-looking” and “surfer girl hair”.

Do some good research! Speaking of reference photos, try looking up kid hair color for gold tone inspiration. When you search “kid hair color” on Pinterest and scroll, you get images like THIS, THIS and THIS, all of which show perfect gold tones.

Purple Shampoo once a week. You don’t want to cut all warm tones, but you definitely want to keep the brass out. If you generally shampoo every other day, then use purple shampoo once a week. If you’re a daily shampooer, do it every 3rd shampoo.

Gloss it up! Keep it shiny by glossing in between colors. Gold toned hair should sparkle! It will reflect so much more light if you gloss or glaze in between.

Who can wear it? Honestly, I’ve never met a girl who didn’t look great in gold tones as long as the color is not too light or dark for your skin tone.

Box Dyes. This is tricky. I’m going to try to keep it simple. We all have warm tones underneath our natural color– even ashy girls (there’s yellow + orange under there even though your don’t see it). If you put a box of color on your roots that says “gold”, you’re probably going to get a brassy result. Instead try using a neutral box color. It will bring out those warm tones hiding inside and leave you with golden tones. Always account for the color that you don’t see inside the hair shaft. I think I should do a whole post on this…

Next up in our “Hair Color Guide” series is the good ol’ neutral family. The name may sound boring, however, the unique beauty of this perfectly balanced shade is anything but boring. The way I like to describe neutral to my clients is by telling them it’s “nearly toneless”. I tell them to think of “sand at the beach” to picture the right hue. It’s not gold/warm and it’s not cool/ashe. It’s still shiny but it won’t give off any particular tone. That being said– don’t confuse the word “neutral” with the word “natural”! Someone’s natural hair color can be a neutral tone, and another person’s natural hair color can be a golden tone so natural doesn’t mean neutral. (A confusing statement I know, but read it a couple times if you need to and hopefully it will make sense.) A few things to keep in mind when considering a neutral tone:

It may take some time. Neutral hair doesn’t always happen in one color application, especially if you’re coming from a warmer color. Cutting underlying warm tones can take a couple rounds. Be patient whether you’re doing this yourself or going to a colorist. Know that it will happen with repeated application.

Go in for a gloss. Ask your colorist if you can come in to get a color gloss in between color appointments. It’s a quick process and will help keep unwanted tones away.

It’s a thin line between ashe and neutral. Ashe is jusssssst over the fence from neutral. If you really desire that perfect neutral tone, you may have to overshoot into ashe and live with it for 2-3 shampoos. I know– nobody wants to leave the hairstylist and wait 2-3 shampoos for the perfect color to surface, and with most tones you shouldn’t have to but with neutral tones you just might. Mentally prep yourself for that (aka: don’t schedule a hot date for the next evening). If you don’t have the patience for that, stay tuned for our next post.

Purple shampoo every other time. You just have to. It’s the law. No but really, if you don’t the likely hood is high that warm tones will work their way into your hair.

Conditioning treatments are important. Just like ashe colors, if this starts to look dull, it can look bad. Keep it shiny and keep it clean.

Who can wear neutral tones? Almost anyone! The most important thing to think about, however, is “Is this my most flattering color?” Sometimes just because you can pull it off doesn’t mean it’s your best color. I was platinum blonde for 8 years and it looked good but nothing compared to how I felt when I went bright red. So ask yourself, is this my best/most flattering color?

Hope you’ve enjoyed the first two (neutral + ashe). See you next week for gold tones, warm golds and hints of red!